MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There are still a few last details to iron out following the Aug. 6 closure of the former Garrett Street bus depot.
Dave Bruffy, Mountain Line Transit Authority GM, said that was to be expected after condensing an 18-month planning process into a city-mandated six-month window to move.
“There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle behind the scene,” Bruffy told WAJR Monday. “They thought we just had to move a few offices and a few people across the street. That was kind of the impression they had not realizing we had to reconfigure at least 13 or 18 routes and put all those pieces back together.”
One area of key concern, Bruffey said, is downtown bus shelters.
“Shelters are okay for able-bodied folks, but if you’re in a wheelchair, you have a mobility impairment and there’s a snow storm or a rain storm, you can’t just run out the door as the bus is coming,” he said.
The move from Garrett Street in Morgantown to MLTA’s Westover headquarters came on the heels of a $4 million overhaul of the Morgantown riverfront. The move is projected to cost MLTA $600,000.
Along with that unexpected expense, Bruffy said there’s been difficulty finding properties for the aforementioned shelters.
“The problem for us is that most of those locations are in highway right of ways or public property,” he said. “We don’t control the property. So without permissions and without help, we can’t put shelters in those locations.”
MLTA, which provides around one million rides per year, significantly overhauled routes to accomodate the depot’s new location. That led to some initial confusion, and even led to MLTA providing some free-of-charge rides while customers acclimated.
There were some positive changes, including several routes cutting down on travel time and increasing in access for commuters.
“There is additional access to University Town Centre and Suncrest Town Centre for students,” Bruffy said. “If they’re not aware of those, then they should probably take a look at the Gold Line schedule and the Purple Line schedule. Those both provide better access than they have in the past.”
Residents can explore the full route changes here.